Window Seat

 Hey everyone! This week was crazy and has been pretty mentally straining which I'm sure is for the best. It was transfer week which is always hard on me for some reason. Watching Elder Bingham leave and saying goodbye to the people we have built such strong relationships with left me a little sad and retrieving my new companion who is the most melatonin guy you'll ever meet hasn't helped me get my head in the game haha. However, we did have some good lessons and streeting experiences on Friday after transfer day which I would like to share. We also had a lot of success and lessons before Friday but I honestly just don't want to think about it right now. 

After getting back from Tokyo, Friday night we had a good Eikaiwa class and a bunch of people showed up again. It went pretty well and I somehow managed to give a message on why we come to church in Japanese at the end which was really good. 

On Sunday night we headed for Urayasu and stayed with Elder Kroff and all the elders in my district. They are all super sweet and serving in Chiba and Urayasu. That night we had a DL\ZL call as well which was really funny because the internet was so bad and all we could hear was cutting in and out of Elder Ogata who is native Japanese laughing at us. 

Early the next day at the annex, which is connected to the Tokyo temple, we got to hear from President Bonnie H Cordan, her husband, and the Rasbands. I actually got a lot out of it and I think the mission really needed it. At one point they had everyone stand up who had just arrived in Japan in the last 2 transfers. About 70 percent of our mission in that room stood up. So that is a lot of missionaries who are in drowning water feeling inadequate and the few missionaries who can speak well still have questions of what they are doing in Japan with little ward support or success in their areas. They shared some powerful things and gave some encouragement and helped me realize how much God loves me and that I am not alone as, cliche as that sounds. 

Last night the sun was setting and it was getting dark at around 5:30 so we were running out of time and I needed to get out streeting. I decided to go to this mall but on the way there prayed whether to go there or a park close to the station. I ended up turning around and going to the park and right when we pulled in there was a young guy with earrings on the right and I instantly knew that was who we needed to talk to. So we parked our bikes and headed straight to him. My companion can understand Japanese pretty well but still has a hard time bearing his testimony in the language so I have been doing all the talking which was perfect because this guy had a lot of similar interests. After talking with him for 20 minutes we got contact info and planned to get lunch or skate some time soon. After talking to him I started talking to this one middle school kid which turned into a good 30 minute conversation with 15 middle school kids who had all been playing soccer. I don't really know how I stood my ground with Japanese while talking to them but なんとなくwe did it. 

Today we are heading back down to Urayasu for ZC tomorrow morning. Also I was thinking why learning Japanese is so hard for a lot of us and I think it's because we have all been raised speed running everything. Speed run homework, work, games笑, chores.. etc but you just can't speed run 10,000 words and 250 grammar principals over night. It takes time and there is nothing you can do about it. So I appreciate the prayers and please continue to send them haha! Also for those wondering the weather her is still pretty nice with the majority of last week being short sleeve weather.

Until next time! - Elder Parker